Mr. Finian O'Sullivan:

Regarding the algae, I was talking to a producer yesterday in the car when I was coming up. I asked him how he was getting on as they are launching a couple of products soon. There is a marine research centre a few miles from me that is working with Teagasc on algae that can be introduced into the feed of cattle to reduce the methane. I was at a Teagasc meeting where it came up for discussion and there was a presentation. I said, "I know the outfit that are doing that." The cattle were rejecting it a little bit at the beginning because it was just sprinkled on top, but they are incorporating it now into the pellets for feeding. They can reduce the methane by 80% in the cattle. Whether that is right, wrong, or true, they have to prove that. What I am saying is there are opportunities in lots of different directions that we are touching on and having a look at but not finishing and seeing where they are going. There is plenty of money going into research in universities that have the capacity to do this type of work. There is a lot of potential. Like a lot of research and development: you win some; you lose some, but I feel there is a lot. If there are seaweed lines in place, they are not that heavy so storms will not affect them as much. Whereas, in the case of mussel lines, there could be 25 tonnes or 30 tonnes on them. There is weight on them so the swell will affect them more. There might be 3 tonnes, 4 tonnes or 5 tonnes of seaweed flapping around the place growing and absorbing carbon, nitrogen and phosphates from the water. They are very good at that.

I am not a scientist; I just pick up on stuff and listen. There are a lot of harvest opportunities there that we let go. That seems to be a feature of what happens in Ireland. We start something but we do not finish it. Then, it is about other countries. They have taken over the show. They are five or ten years ahead of us.